Where I Can't Follow
by CaptainSwans-Tardis
Summary: AU where Killian takes the curse of the Dark One in 4/22 instead of Emma: How will the town survive a darkened Killian Jones?
1. Prologue

**Hey guys!**

 **I was actually intending for this to be a one-shot, but I got carried away. Enjoy, and don't forget to review, please!**

 **Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Once Upon a Time.**

 _Killian_

Fate- or the Author, or whoever it was that controlled this universe- was sick. Twisted beyond belief in the idea that it was fitting, laughable even, to snatch away any he dared to love. Too many a time had Killian looked into the eyes of someone he would die for, Liam, Milah, Emma- _oh gods, Emma_ \- and known that they were lost to him, in death or worse. Too many a time he'd been left alone- to pick up his pieces and continue on with his miserable life.

That was why this time was different.

Emma had only just pushed him away when the idea struck him like the sword that had, not so long ago, pierced his back. Her hand was eerily still, the dagger risen and flashing against the darkness, taunting, and it called to him- _Spare her, spare her._ Even the very embodiment of the darkness that housed the deepest of evils knew that Emma did not deserve this, and that Killian did.

Emma pulled back her hand.

Killian tumbled forward, hook flashing in time with the dagger, straining against wind woven of darkness itself, and lashed a hand around the curved blade. Skin ripped against metal, and Emma dropped the dagger in pure surprise, the weapon crashing into Killian's bloodstained palm.

"Killian!" she must have screamed, but he heard nothing but the roar of blood in his ears. The world shook beneath them as the untethered darkness grew, and he turned to look at her one last time- she was straining for him, screaming commands, but the wind had grown too strong.

He did not turn as he plunged the dagger into the cage surrounding Regina; his gaze did not leave Emma's until he was gone.


	2. The Summoning

**Note: This fic is multi-perspective, but told mostly from Emma's point of view.**

 **Review and I will love you forever! I promise!**

 **Disclaimer: Surprisingly enough, I still don't own Once Upon A Time.**

 _Emma_

"He hasn't come," Emma muttered, limbs cold and numb resting on the seaside benches that she and Killian had sat on just a month ago- had it just been a month? It didn't seem possible, similar to the notion that Killian, her Killian, was gone. The dagger pointed outward in her palm, and the summoning call held stagnant in the air.

"I know, Mom," came a familiar voice from next to her, her son's legs tucked neatly beneath him. Between his fingers was a snapped quill- the Author's?- that he twisted against his fingers much in the way that Emma had taken to tangling her fingers around themselves.

"Mom, listen-" Henry began, but she stood abruptly, shaking the cold from her body, placing the chilled dagger beside her in the pocket of her red jacket. "I don't know what I was expecting, kid," she said, shaking her head. "It's not like summoning him ever worked before."

She almost expected him to say something then: to spout words of wisdom and hope, to firmly believe that everything would turn out as it should, but maybe it was a testimony to the absolute dead end they had reached in regard to finding Killian that Henry remained silent as he stood with her.

She looked at Henry, really looked at him, and saw the shadows in his young face, scars he shouldn't have. An immense guilt crept upon her for tainting his hope, his resolve. He was her child, after all, and would only follow by her example. She looped an arm around his shoulder, schooling her face into a happier expression. "C'mon kid, nothing's ever too bleak after one of Granny's cheeseburgers."

He mirrored her smile, but both expressions fell as the other turned away.

Granny's was relatively empty- Red took Emma and Henry's order with a sympathetic smile, and the food was out in under five minutes. Henry inhaled the cheeseburger in front of him, the shard of his quill forgotten beside his plate, and Emma ate heartily too- maybe too much so, her smile too large, her laugh too loud.

After the conversation had fallen silent, and Henry toyed with the fries on his plate, Emma's gaze fell to the ever-present quill beside her son. She realized with another sharp pang of guilt that she had never asked him about his conversation with the apprentice, or why he had chosen to snap the weapon. Leaning forward, her chin propped up on a hand, she took the quill and rolled it between her fingers. She did not miss how Henry's gaze immediately snapped to hers.

"I never did ask you," she began, moving her hand to cup the quill in both palms. "Why did you snap it?"

He tossed another fry into his mouth, considering his words. "I could have changed reality-I really could have made up my own world where I was happy, where I was in charge, but…" he stopped for a moment, looking at the quill she held.

"But?" Emma prompted, giving a small smile.

"The fact that I could was really kind of the reason I couldn't. No one should have that much power."

He reached out to take the quill from his mother's hand, and said, "Besides, I was already happy."

He smiled at her then, the kind of smile that kept her looking at him even as he turned his attention back to his fries. Her son, more wise than he knew- it was no wonder he had been destined to be the next author.

Just as she opened her mouth to tell him so, a roaring pierced the air behind them, followed by a rushing of noise. Emma whipped around to see water tumbling down the streets of Storybrooke, at least knee high and an iridescent hue that prompted Henry to whisper-

"Magic."

She pulled her son to his feet and towards the door, flinging it open against the onslaught of water. All throughout the street the liquid rushed, seemingly spurting from the ground itself- except for one place. A curious, dry circle expanded from the center of the misting tide, pulsing against the pressure of the water.

Henry realized before she did, giving a small cry, but somehow it took longer for her eyes to find the feet that rested in the center of the dry circle, to travel upwards to the hem of black leather jacket, past a too-pale face and cold, gold-blue eyes, to finally rest on a silver hook.

"Killian," Emma whispered, and his eyes flashed gold and cruel to the name.


	3. Tell Me That You Love Me

**Hey people! Thanks so much for following/reviewing: it really does make me smile.**

 **In other news, I really am ambiguous as to where this story should go- feel free to leave your ideas in reviews, and I'll do my best to work them in.**

 **###**

 _Emma_

The water was both cold and hot at the same time; it chilled Emma to the deepest roots of her magic, but seared against the skin of her legs, but no matter. She rushed into it anyway.

Henry seized the back of her jacket with surprising force, ripping her around to face him. "Mom, that's not Killian," he said. "Not anymore."

Emma bit her tongue and almost laughed at the situation- Henry keeping calm, Henry telling her what to do. She raised a hand to cup his cheek, whipping her head back for a moment to check on the man in the middle of the road. There he stood, still as stone.

"Henry," she began, tasting the word on her tongue. "Gold still had memories when he turned. He still cared about the ones he loved. He just-"

"Pushed them away. Mom, just-"

"Be careful, I know," she said, sucking in a breath and holding the exhale against her lips. She pressed a kiss to Henry's forehead, and spun on her heels to face the rushing water.

The tide weighed her legs down, tiring her with every step she took. Somehow, with every stride she took, Killian seemed no closer, staring at her with those inhuman eyes. She whipped her head to the left- there was Killian, maybe ten paces away. To the right he also stood, and behind her, and in front of her. As soon as she neared any one of them they shimmered and faded into the mist, before a hook caught her shoulder and yanked her through the air.

 _He's right there_ , she thought, unable to speak. He remained silent as well, studying her as one might a troublesome pet. Again, his eyes flashed to that unnatural gold, and Emma strained for any of the blue she had dreamed of for weeks- she was hard-pressed to find a speck of it.

Finally, he wet his lips, and her heart soared at the survival of the old habit even as his hook dug into her back. _Maybe he's still there_ , she thought. _Maybe this isn't a lost cause._

He smirked. "Well, Emma, we meet again at last."

The statement itself was harmless; he had called her by her first name before. Yet the possessive way it rolled of his tongue, the dull amusement in his expression, and the increasing pressure from his sharp hook all pooled into a throb of fear in her chest. "Yes," she answered, watching his eyes. "Did you miss me?"

The question seemed to amplify his cold amusement, and he gave a brief laugh. "Oh, _Savior,_ " he said. "No."

She tugged back from him immediately, dread filling the place in her chest that had expanded with hope moments ago. Killian was gone, no longer cared for them: Killian was dangerous, and Henry was not thirty feet behind her, defenseless. His hook held strong, however, and she felt heat begin to ooze from where it touched. He looked down at her, struggling in his arms, and spoke again. "I suppose you would prefer if I no longer loved you because I didn't remember you- tough luck, lass. I'm afraid I have quite the memory."

"You still love me," she managed, quietly gathering her magic inside herself.

"Do I?" laughed Killian- no, she thought, the Dark One- and brought his face down to hers, probably to speak a sarcastic insult in his new, lilting tone, before she sent a wave of her pent-up magic his way.

The golden light she was so used to seeing prevail reached him, surrounded him, but knocked uselessly against a barrier that erupted around the Dark One, pulsing black each time her magic struck it. It didn't blast him backwards as she had hoped, but he still stumbled backwards from the blow, losing his footing in the ocean that he had created in time with his arrival.

She spun towards Henry then, some of her magic spurting around her, some lifting her above the water to reach her son faster. The Dark One bellowed behind her- something cruel, no doubt, but Emma did not have the strength to hear it- but she had already reached Henry, who clutched the quill between white fingers at the sound of the pirate's yell. She enveloped both her and her son in white magic, everything blurring around her- was she crying?

The spell worked, and they reappeared in the apartment in a pool of light. Both mother and son made no movement, barely breathed.

"Henry, are you okay?" Emma began, checking all over for cuts and bruises, wounds of any kind, swiping tears from her cheeks.

"Mom, I'm-"

A deafening roar ripped the words from his mouth. Underneath them, the ground rolled, plates and glasses shattering on the ground. A low groaning came from the building they stood in, but somehow it kept its balance, the shaking over as quickly as it had begun.

Emma climbed to her feet, a prickling feeling traveling down her spine, and struggled through the debris of fallen couches and picture frames to the window on the other side of the room.

A thick plume of smoke covered the air over Granny's, and the charred rubble the Dark One had reduced it to.

"Ruby," Henry exhaled, his eyes wide.

###

 **Please don't hate me!**

 **Also, what do you guys think about a Killian-centric chapter?**


	4. Where He Went

**Hello, fellow humans! Just to avoid confusion, this chapter takes place a bit before the last one. Hope you like it, and (copyright obligation alert) be sure to remember that I do not own Once Upon A Time.**

 **Reviews are magical! :)**

###

 _Killian_

The first thing he sensed was the presence of his left hand- glowing, healthy…buzzing , somehow. His entire body felt alive with power, drunk on magic.

The second, however, was the cold, crunching feeling of snow pressed against his back, and the icy fingers it pressed against his skin. Tensing the corners of his eyes, he lifted his lids against a gray sky, blotted with spiraling snowflakes, and immediately closed them in response to the glare. The buzzing that had filled his blood as soon as he'd awoken was still just as insistent, but a new ache began to make itself known as Killian shifted into a kneel, opening his eyes. It centered mostly around his head, fluttering around him much like the snowflakes he'd glimpsed, blowing thick smoke into his mind. Memories became distant, motivations empty- _Why am I here?_ , he wondered. _Who am I?_

He dug his hands into the endless snow around him and searched for a moment of clarity. With a sudden stab of pain in his uncovered hands came a brief memory- a dagger flashing, a woman crying, a name he couldn't remember.

"Emma," he said, the word echoing off of the bare landscape around him.

It seemed the name was some sort of trigger, and with it came staggered memories. Each came in their own time, and in no particular order, yet still it made perfect sense to Killian as he snaked his hands deeper into the snow. Tears froze on his cheeks as laughter caught in his throat- there were too many emotions, too many scenarios, and yet he could not get enough of the whirlwind that tore through his mind.

Until he saw her.

 _Emma_. The name he'd spoke into the nothingness. A head of blonde hair, green eyes that stared right past his trademark smirk, a smile both beautiful and deadly. "That's why I'm here _,_ " he remembered. "Ilove her. That's why I'm here."

 _And where is she?_

He wanted the voice to be a monster creeping through the snow, or a sorcerer poking through his mind, but it was his own, bitterness and all. A sneer twisted his face before he caught himself, and he found himself filled with loathing as another image of Emma took focus in his mind. It was not her he hated, but all she and her magic stood for. _I hate her_ , he snarled inside his head- no, no, no, he couldn't hate Emma- _She never loved me anyways- she was going to leave us all for the magic of the Dark One, if I hadn't taken it first._

He felt an odd tickling around his fingers as his teeth grit in anger, and lifted his hands out of the snow to investigate.

 _She would have left us even if the Dark One's magic hadn't presented itself. She even told me herself- the only room for love she has in her life is for Henry. How could I have been so stupid?_

An ebony curtain of magic, much like the one he had stabbed with the dagger to free Regina, began to coil around his fingers, spiraling upward from the snow that was still, somehow, pure white. The smoke began to crawl up his arms, and the magic buzzed harder-

"Emma Swan, nothing more than a _coward_ ," he said, unsure when his inner tirade had transformed into speaking, but he couldn't stop. "She and her brat- hell, even her entire family- are so fixated on doing what's right and _having hope_ ," he unsheathed a cutlass that suddenly appeared at his side, "That they don't even see what's right in front of them! How long did I try to be a part of their family?"

He was yelling at the gray sky now, and his words terrified him. How could he say these things when he loved Emma? He loved her…didn't he?

"How long did I wait for her? I saved her life, I saved her boy's life, and all she did was distrust me. Well, no longer!" The volume of his shout rustled the air around him. The darkness had coiled up to his chin now, and was climbing to meet his lips. He was barely aware of his shouting now- it seemed detached from him, like another man. Yet somehow he knew that if the darkness enveloped him, that 'other man' would become Killian Jones. His heart raced against the magic- it was almost to his nose now- and he struggled again for the moment of clarity that had allowed him to remember who he was.

Pain, he remembered. Pain had triggered it. He reached downward towards the burning cold of the snow, but the magic threatened to overtake him if he knelt, already tickling his forehead. His breath shuddered against the blackness, his hands shaking against the cutlass he still clutched-

The cutlass.

Bracing himself, he raised the weapon above his left wrist, his arm shaking against the idea, but Killian needed a way to clear the literal haze that surrounded him. He clutched the weapon tighter, and listened to it whistle through the air as he turned it downwards to his wrist.

The world exploded into red pain, but the moment of clarity never came; the haze was too strong, climbing several feet above his head to completely envelop him, his own dark thoughts reverberating against the sides of the cloud of magic.

 _Emma, I love you_ , he thought, just as his vision flashed black, and the magic around him swirled faster. Pinpricks of the cloud snaked away to stab into his mind, twisting any fair memory into a thirsting need for revenge. It was brief, and the cloud soon swept away into the wind, leaving only Killian- no, the Dark One- behind.

He opened his eyes, and found himself standing in the middle of Storybrooke, the snow melting into crashing, iridescent waves around him.

###

 **Thanks for reading! You guys make my day.**


	5. The Aftermath

**Sup!**

 **Okay, I'm never saying (typing?) that again. Hope you enjoy this next chapter- it isn't too sad. I promise more Killian/ Emma interaction is on its way. I wanted to do a situation sort of like the one in 'Skin Deep' between Rumple and Belle…But I just feel like Emma would never leave her family like that. I need ideas! Help me please!**

 **Reviews are amazing, and so are you guys!**

 **(I don't own Once, blah blah blah)**

 **###**

 _Emma_

"Ruby!" Emma yelled, spinning in her umpteenth circle, kicking over charred rocks in her search. She pressed an elbow across her nose to block the smoke, her voice muffled. "Ruby!"

For a second Emma though she heard a faint call of her name from within the ruins of the diner, and her entire body froze with the effort it took to listen. A forgotten fire crackled on the fuel of torn curtains; behind her, Regina and Henry shuffled on the gravel, keeping watch for the man that had done this.

Not Killian, she kept reminding herself. Not him. The Dark One.

The call that she had heard was not repeated. Sighing, she bent her knees and slumped to the ground, her legs crossed over each other, and braced her head against her scraped hands. Ruby was just gone. No body, no blood, no anything. She felt a drop of blood smear from her hand onto her forehead, but exhaustion took away any resolve to care.

"Mom," came Henry's voice from behind her, and she pressed deeper into her hands before turning to see her mother and father approaching the scene, Robin in tow. Mary Margaret was flat out running- Neal was curiously nowhere to be seen- towards the diner, her breath coming in short gasps as her forehead tied itself in knots. David was not far behind her, exchanging darks looks and what seemed to be bleak conversation with Robin.

"Emma!" wheezed out Mary Margaret, stopping at the doorstep- or at least what had used to be the doorstep- where Regina stood guard. "Wh- What happened?"

Emma felt a brief twinge of regret for not have immediately informed her mother of the situation, but still pushed her knees up against the smoking floor and crossed over to Mary Margaret. The woman in question was blinking without pause, most likely against tears. Emma bit her lip as she remembered her mother's close friendship with Ruby, and settled for a gentle tone.

She brought her hand up to touch her mother's face, just for a moment, and did not miss the way she leaned into the touch. "Mom," she began, her voice strained, "Killian's back."

Whatever Mary Margaret had been expecting to hear, that was not it. She blinked twice and shook her head, almost imperceptibly, before asking, "But how…did he finally respond to your summons?"

"No."

"Then what…" she began, but could not seem to find her question. Emma dropped her gaze, and Regina stepped towards Mary Margaret, lips tight.

"He came here, suddenly…we don't know how. He just, well, appeared, with some sort of ocean, and he-"

"Wasn't the same," Emma broke in, her voice hollow. She tensed her shoulder as she once again relived the feeling of his hook pressed into her back, cruel words spoken into her ear, eyes blank. That wasn't anywhere near the man he'd been, nor the one she loved. Somehow she had been repressing the truth, until now, and it all bore down on her at once. "Killian's dead."

A tear slipped down her cheek just as David and Robin reached the diner, and she turned away, pretending to be inspecting an upturned stone, as Regina continued.

"He…confronted Emma," Regina said, choosing her words carefully. "It was very clear that the darkness had taken over. When she escaped him, he let out his rage, and, well… the diner was standing in the way."

"Was anyone hurt?" she heard her mother ask, her voice scratching against the air. She already knew the answer.

"Everyone was accounted for," Regina said, lowering her voice. "Except for Ruby."

Mary Margaret let out a small noise, and Emma heard her breath catch.

She wished to comfort her mother, and began to turn her heels to do so, when an idea knocked her unawares. In an instant she was standing, crossing the piles of stone and wood; she heard Regina call for her, but she just kept walking, turning the corner and breaking into a run towards the back exit. It was a mess of stone, barely standing, but Emma still fell to her knees, shoving away any stone she could see. The raw scrapes on her hands screamed, but she kept pulling, shaking her hair, nearly gray from the dust that had settled in it, out of her face.

The rest of the group caught up with her, very confused as to what she was doing. "Emma," began David in a cautious tone, and it was then that she realized what she looked like- mad. Flinging stones behind her, running, not responding. She turned, not able to stop a hopeful smile from crossing her face, which seemed to frighten them even more.

"Why would she have stayed in the diner?" she asked, looking from face to face.

"What?" was the general reply, each looking at each other in confusion.

"Ruby," Emma elaborated. "Why would she have stayed in the diner if she had seen Killian, the ocean, everything? She wasn't with us; she didn't try to confront him. But," she stopped in pure shock as she overturned a stone to reveal a lithe arm with glossy red fingernails. "It makes complete sense that she might have tried to run out the back door."

Mary Margaret fell to the ground beside her daughter, scrambling to feel for a pulse in the sprawled wrist while Emma heaved away more rocks, revealing a bruised face, eyes shut. Purple billowed up the side of Ruby's face like some sort of tattoo, red blood twisting around the lines to frame her face in wounds. Mary Margaret closed her eyes and grasped her fingers tighter around the girl's arm. Emma bit her lip.

Mary Margaret's eyes flew open in shock, exhaling in a half-laugh the second she felt the faint pulse. "She's alive!" she said, jumping upwards and into David's arms as Emma heaved away the final stone. Ruby's body was splotched with bruises and pools of blood, but her chest rose and fell. As Henry embraced Regina in relief, Ruby began to stir.

"Emma…" she shifted, her eyes fluttering open an inch, unfocused. "Emma, help…"

Emma knelt beside her, pressing a hand to her shoulder. "I'm here. You'll be fine." Then, to David-"Pick her up- she needs Dr. Whale."

Ruby was out cold again by the time David had reached her.

###

 **I just couldn't find it in me to kill Ruby. Are you glad? :)**


	6. Confrontation

**Um. Hello.**

 **I know, I know, I haven't updated as quickly as I usually do. Here's an extra-long chapter to make up for it!**

 **And also, please don't hate me, but I'm afraid this story will be on hiatus for the rest of the summer (at worst). I'm going on vacation- I won't really have time to write. I'm sorry!**

 **(I don't own Once Upon A Time, blah, blah, blah, copyright stuff.)**

###

 _Emma_

Emma had been sitting in the waiting room for at least an hour before she realized it was gone.

She leapt up, catching the surprise of both her parents and Regina. Breath shuddering in and out of her mouth, she checked every pocket on her person, spinning in a circle like a dog would chase its tail.

Regina's eyes followed her with no small amount of apprehension. "Ms. Swan, what the _hell_ are you doing?"

Emma stopped spinning, her heart racing in her chest. "Where is it?" she asked, her tone low.

Mary Margaret, eyes crinkled with concern, raised a hand to her daughter's face, rubbing circles with her thumb. "Emma," she began. "What are you talking about?"

"The dagger," Emma said, her voice cracking with stress. "Gold's-Killian's dagger. It's gone."

No one spoke for the next few seconds, though Emma's legs did give way as she lowered herself into a chair, her face paper-white. She tore backwards through her memory in record time, remembering the ecstatic look Killian had given her before retreating into his cruel mask. Her fingers rose to meet her temples and clenched; how could she have been so stupid? She'd thought that he'd been happy to see her, that maybe there was a sliver of hope that her pirate had survived the curse of the Dark One. In truth, he had held knowledge of her love for him, and exploited it for his own use. Closing her eyes, she forced herself to relive the moment.

… _a hook caught her shoulder and yanked her through the air…_ _"Well, Emma, we meet again at last."_

And then, something she hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment.

 _His hand ghosted to her waist…the hook on her back tightened to mask the pressure of a dagger being lifted from the clutch of her belt…_

"Oh, my god," Emma moaned, and leaned forward as if she were about to be sick. "It's all my fault."

"Emma, no-" came her father's immediate response, but even he sounded unsure.

"I ran to him," Emma continued, raising her head to look at the three creased faces, each watching her carefully, panic suppressed. "When he first appeared, I ran to him…I knew it was a bad idea, okay?" she snapped as Regina began to scowl at her. "I just…I needed to see if was really him. It was obvious pretty soon that it wasn't. He was holding me by his hook, it was hurting, but he wasn't just doing it for kicks, he must have been distracting me." Her head fell back into her hands. "Sick bastard," she said sadly, any venom absent from her voice.

Regina pressed her lips together, and then turned to leave, her heels clicking against the floor.

"Where the hell are you _going_?" asked Emma, dragging a hand across her forehead. "Have I finally pissed you off enough that you've decided to go drown yourself?"

Regina spun around with an eyebrow raised. "Not quite, Ms. Swan. But _do_ keep trying- you get closer every day."

"Where are you going?" David said, repeating Emma's question.

Regina rolled her eyes, like the answer should have been perfectly obvious. " _How_ did I never manage to outwit you people?" she sighed. "The pirate's back. Where do you think _the pirate_ will go?"

"The Jolly Roger," Mary Margaret breathed, just as Emma said, "That's too dangerous."

"Ms. Swan, we have to fix this _now_ ," Regina said, puffing out a short breath, and glancing downward at the blonde with a distinct royal air. Emma guessed old habits died hard. "The longer we allow him to roam, the more damage he inflicts." She gestured to the hall that Ruby had disappeared into.

Emma's eyes dropped downwards, and she tasted blood where her teeth dug into her tongue. Regina was right. As powerful as Killian was now, as easily as he could defeat them, they needed to try. She nodded, raising her head to stare at the ceiling for a moment before addressing Regina again.

"Okay. But he's only talking to me," Emma said, pushing past Regina to walk towards the hospital entrance.

"Of all the ridiculous- Ms. Swan!" Regina all but yelled, yanking her back with a tight grip around her wrist. "Are you seriously suggesting that I sit on my ass for a few hours while you risk yours?"

For a moment Emma looked confused; then came a weak smile. "Who said anything about you staying behind?"

###

"Got it?" Emma asked, rubbing her hands together against the chill of the docks, eyes darting every which way.

Regina sighed but somehow managed to keep from rolling her eyes. "Yes," she affirmed, yet again, and repeated her part of the plan for Emma's sake. "You walk up to Killian, touching reunion, I wait in the shadows for when everything goes to hell."

"Sounds about right," Emma said, gazing over the water to the Roger, eyebrows knitted together. She turned around to face Regina with startling speed, and pressed a gun into her palm, who immediately jerked back, affronted.

"Do you seriously think I need this?" she asked, ready to give a display of her magic, but Emma stopped her with a raised hand.

"I know, I know, but he may try to immobilize our magic. This is just in case." She lifted her jacket to reveal a gun strapped to her waist, and then gave a curt nod, which Regina returned. Emma ducked out from their hiding place behind the dumpster, and began to walk across the docks.

The air was colder than usual, stinging Emma's face as she walked along the wooden platforms. She felt open, exposed- every whisper of a wave sent her into overdrive, her magic settling into a permanent glow around her. It was too short a walk to the Jolly Roger, and she swallowed hard before stepping aboard.

He was in no sense hiding.

"Well don't you look radiant, love?" he spoke without turning around to look at her, watching the waves. "Positively _glowing._ "

It was then she realized the light her magic was casting, and she wet her lips, concentrating on tapering the glow to a faint sheen. It refused to completely disappear. She felt her face burn up to her forehead and hoped Killian did not notice the sudden lack of control she had over her magic.

He noticed. "Do I really scare you that much, darling?" A brief pause, and then he turned. Emma bit her tongue again. It was _him_ \- but it wasn't. She wanted to rush him, to tell him she loved him again, but he would only kill her, and she knew it. What she didn't know, however, was whether or not she would kill him.

She decided first on firm diplomacy. "Give me the dagger."

He smiled, pleased with her to-the-point attitude, and lifted a finger and his hook into the air- the dagger appeared between them. "This dagger?" he asked, twirling it around his hook, the action composed of pure magic. In a brief respite of control, the dagger slipped away from him, suspended in midair, and Emma reached for it blindly- the magic around her brightened-

Killian snatched the weapon from midair and closed his fingers around it; it bent like light shining through water, and vanished. He lowered his fist to his side, and raised his eyes to hers. He knew she had reached for it.

"It's for your own good," she said, aware of how little good her words were doing.

Killian turned back around. " _This_ again."

"Give me the dagger!" she said again, hating how thin her voice sounded against the air. He laughed, almost imperceptibly, but it was enough to send Emma into a rage. She twisted her hands against themselves, bit her tongue, but nothing could contain it. The anger settled in her blood and turned to heat, boiling her from the inside- it spilled upwards, leaking through her skin and into her magic, which shot like a bullet towards Killian. He dodged it, of course- but he looked surprised, maybe even a bit frightened.

The anger faded as quickly as it came, with a faint sense of guilt. She could have killed him.

"Very good," he whispered, almost in reverence. He twitched his fingers- Emma wasn't even sure how she noticed- and the anger flared back to life.

She started forward. "What are you doing?" she growled. He twitched his fingers again, and Emma's face flushed red, her anger skyrocketing- a snarl tore out of her throat. Bits of her magic began to steam red, curling away from her as the rage reached an intensity that made her light-headed.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that this level of anger wasn't natural. Why was she even enraged in the first place? The thought, pushed backwards when the anger had first begun, began to pull itself forward to the front of her mind.

She felt her arms light with fire, burning pleasantly into her skin. She raised her arms to blast him, to kill him- oh, how she would love to kill him-

 _Stop! This isn't you, he's doing it, stop!_

He was raising some sort of sail in front of himself. Was he trying to block her fire? Surely he could not be so foolish; he didn't even looked scared. How dare he not be scared!

 _STOP!_

Emma regained control of her body again, stumbling. The fire flickered and tumbled down her arms before dying, the air marred with smoke. Burns curled down Emma's arm, and Killian dropped the sail in front of him, jaw clenching.

Emma raised her chin. "How the hell did you do that?" she said, voice hoarse from smoke.

"What?" Killian snapped, his voice nothing but venom. Still, though, there was a pinch of apprehension- he did not want her to know his secret, his only unknown weapon against the _Savior_.

A muscle ticked in Emma's jaw. "How the hell did you just control my emotions?"

###

 **I promise the plot is underway! There are actual motives and everything- just stick around for a bit.**

 **As always, thanks for reading. Make my vacation 100 times better by leaving a review!**


	7. Jones

**I'm back!**

 **I feel bad for leaving you guys in the dark for a month, but I promise that I put the time to good use. This story has officially been mapped out, and I know exactly where it's going, however complicated. (To clarify, I had absolutely** _ **no**_ **idea where this was going for the past chapters.) I'm still open to requests/suggestions though. Enjoy!**

 **###**

Killian froze with the sail between his white fingertips, his jaw ticking.

Emma felt a small thrill in being able to get to him as well as she had, watching his jaw tick in time with his pulse as he struggled for nonchalance. He blinked once, too slow to be telling the truth, and smirked at her.

"What, love?"

"You heard me," Emma repeated. She could still feel her fingers trembling, even as the rest of her remained cool. Biting her tongue, she crossed her hands behind her back, tangling her fingers together when she tasted blood. "How did you control my emotions?"

All the bravado Killian had painstakingly built in the past few seconds slipped away, like a sponge losing its water, and as the clueless demeanor faded, anger rose to take its place. He clenched his jaw and balled the sail between his fist.

And yet Emma could do nothing but watch him; it was then that she realized how fruitless this struggle between them was. Here was Killian, fully distracted and disconcerted, and she couldn't throw a single bolt of magic his way.

She could never hurt him, and she hated herself for it.

What she could do, though, was pretend.

"I asked you a question!" Emma said, striding forward a few feet. "I asked you…"

The rest of the words caught between her throat and lips, a warm thrumming sound filling her ears. Waves crashed deafeningly loud against the side of the ship, and the worn boards she stood on tilted beneath her feet. _What the hell?_

Emma cried out, stumbling, as colors swirled around her, though she caught a strong glimmer of red, and something was screaming into her mind, scattering thoughts into disarray. She could not remember why she was here, and she was falling, falling…she could feel the hardness of the ship's deck against her elbows, but it was barely registered. She could not breathe, she could not see, she could not scream.

 _What is happening?_ she tried to yell into her own mind, but even that came out achingly soft. _Where am I?_

She reached out into the nothingness, pulling as she would on a rope, tugging herself upward as if for air. The fronds of color twisted faster, as if to scare her away, but her magic reared out of the confusion, pulling her senses back to one another.

First came sight, then sound, and then a whirlwind of smells and the taste of blood in her mouth, and she snapped her head up to an astounded Killian.

She had just broken free of his magic.

Emma could feel a cold wetness on her cheeks, and she swiped one hand across them before pushing off the ground and advancing on the man before her.

"Killian," Emma said, her voice scratchy and dangerously low. "I'm not going to forget. You can try to confuse with your magic all you like, but as we both just witnessed," she gestured with her hand, "it will not work."

He did not look scared, but he did not reply either. Emma took this as a good sign.

She tried to copy his burning gaze from earlier, clenching her jaw like she'd seen her father do a million times before. Her chin elevated, her back stiffened, and she continued to stare at him. Every piece of hateful body language she worked into her threatening stance was a lie, and she knew it.

She didn't know if he did.

"I will ask you one last time," Emma said, almost tired of repeating the same question for the third time. "How did you control my emotions?" She spoke each word separate from the other, as if Killian was a preschooler. "And trust me, if you don't tell the truth, things aren't going to go so hot for you." _Lie._

Killian began to smirk. _Oh, God, he knows. He knows I'm bluffing._ Emma tasted blood again, and struggled to unclench her teeth from her tongue.

"You'll know soon enough," he said, and disappeared like the dagger that had ceased from existence between his fingers.

###

"Miss Swan- Miss Swan, come back here- EMMA!"

Emma paid no mind to Regina's shouts as she turned onto the main street in some sort of haze, walking quicker than she ever had before without breaking into a run. She still could not believe what had happened at the docks, how easily she had caved to his magic. Above all, though, she was furious at herself for realizing that she had no will to harm Killian.

 _This is what you get, Emma,_ a saccharine voice echoed inside her mind. _This is what you get for falling for someone, anyone._

She bit her tongue again- man, she was going to get some sort of bruise- and wrenched herself out of her thoughts, finding herself exactly where she had been headed.

Gold's shop.

She strode into the musty store without a word, startling Belle, who sat behind the counter. She stopped scribbling and looked up at the sound of the door slamming. A single curl fell in front of her face. "Can I help y-"

"Emotion magic," Emma said, her voice frantic. "How does Killian suddenly have emotion magic? Gold never did."

"What?" Belle set down her pen and stood, her eyebrows nearly meeting.

"Killian. The new Dark One. I…confronted him, and he was able to manipulate my emotions. I want to know how."

Regina chose this time to burst through the door, breathing hard. "Miss Swan, I do _not_ appreciate the sudden aptitude for track."

Neither Belle nor Emma paid any mind to Regina's abrupt entrance. "Well?" Emma said, her voice cracking. "Do you know?"

Belle blinked several times, and almost began to shake her head, before she froze, horror pouring into her eyes. Emma could do nothing but wonder just how bad the situation had become as Belle turned to the bookshelf behind her, and went straight for a medium-sized book with a worn turquoise cover. She touched it with great fear, as if the book might explode at any moment, and flipped through the pages with shaking hands.

 _How bad is it?_ Emma wondered. _Does it mean Killian is gone forever?_

Belle closed her eyes after stopping on a page, and pressed her lips together. She twisted the book around to lay in front of Emma, who could feel Regina peering over her shoulder, and read the title out loud.

"Davy Jones, reigning God of the sea," the librarian said, her eyes wide with apprehension. "Noted not only for his immense power over water and all those in it," she paused, "But also for his strange power over the emotions of all living things."

Regina took in a sharp breath. Dread ran icy cold through every limb in Emma's body as she forced the awful conclusion out.

"Killian's his son."

###

 **I've been wanting this to happen on the show since forever, so I guess this is just a fulfillment of wishes. I mean, come on. They named him Killian** _ **Jones**_ **, for Pete's sake. Perfect opportunity.**

 **Please leave a review for the returning writer! I'll love you forever!**


	8. With Great Power

**Hello again!**

 **Man, I really am making a habit of these late updates. I'm sorry, but band sort of took up my time for a while. But I'm back, with a new chapter for you, so enjoy!**

 **(I don't own ONCE, blah blah blah)**

 **###**

It had been too many hours since Emma had given up on any hope of sleep, prowling back and forth in front of the apartment's largest window. Her eyelids stuck to the dry sheen on her eyes, buzzing with the effort to keep them open, gazing at the darkened street before her. Anytime they closed, a new image of Killian flashed before them- narrowing his blue-gold eyes as his lips twisted into a snarl, a blazing aura of anger leeching into his magic as Emma resisted him. It wasn't that that the images _scared_ her so much as they disturbed her. She was used to seeing Killian's face clear, marred only with curiosity, concern, and determination. And now he was the Dark One, except worse, so much worse, because that power had awoken something in him, something ancient and terrible.

The power of Davy Jones- his father.

Emma pressed her lips together and again relived the feeling that had taken root in her chest when she'd learned of Killian's lineage- it kept her heart pumping, and she needed the adrenaline to keep her eyes wide. It was all too easy to place herself back in Gold's shop, Belle's hands fluttering as she pulled the book back to her chest…without realizing it, Emma's eyes drifted shut in time with the memory…

" _Killian's his son," Emma said, her throat closing against the urge to cry. Her gaze became fixed on the scuffed floors beneath her feet, her fingers strangely still._

" _What does this mean?" Regina said, her voice scratching against the low tone it dipped into. "Is he some sort of god now?"_

 _A laugh bubbled up from Emma's throat and spilled through her lips; it was hoarse and ugly, but a better alternative to the tears. Killian had always had an ego fit for the gods._

 _Belle cast a worried glance Emma's way before answering Regina. "I don't think so. If the power had never made itself known before, he must have had a human mother. He's more of…a demigod?"_

 _Another laugh fluttered out of Emma, this time unnoticed by either woman. She wasn't quite sure why she was laughing anymore, only that it was ridiculous for_ Killian _of all people to possess a secret gift of manipulation. She had always been the powerful one, the one with the most to risk and lose. She had always been the one to saddle up for a fight and know she had the capability to win, while he had trailed along at his own risk and Emma's displeasure. She had always been the one who didn't need saving…and now neither did he._

" _But what does he want, Regina?" Belle said, her voice pitching upwards. She clenched the table she stood at, taking a breath that reached her knees. "He must have come here for something."_

" _All I know is that he seems awfully interested in our Savior here, so no change there."_

" _So he brought nothing over at all? No possessions, nothing he picked up while he was here?" Belle tilted her head, her tone disbelieving._

 _Emma's head snapped up, hurtling through memories. An unnatural haze of anger rolling off her skin, Killian's pleased expression as she screamed at him- his arms raising something as she prepared to strike, something white and eerie…_

" _He had a sail. Pan's sail," she said, her voice steady and her eyes dry. "He tried to manipulate me so I would throw magic his way, and when I almost did, he held it up in front of him, like…"_

" _A shield," Belle breathed, her fingers tapping nonstop now, eyes darting back and forth as she chewed on her tongue. Emma could see exactly when she came to a conclusion; her jaw stopped ticking as her eyes widened fractionally._

" _Emma, you used that sail to capture Pan's shadow to escape through realms…I think that in addition to the shadow, you snared the shadow's magic, which is how you escaped."_

" _Son of a bitch," Emma said, realizing what Belle's words meant._

" _Excuse me, I seemed to have missed the train of thought. Anyone care to fill me in?" Regina said, folding her arms against her chest._

 _Emma spun on her heel, already headed out. "Killian wants to leave Storybrooke, and there aren't any more magic beans," she paused with one foot out the door. "So he's stealing my power to do the job for them."_

###

Emma awoke to the sensation of blood on her tongue, the memory fading back into her mind. The room was still dark; she couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour. Peeling her cheek from the window, she resumed her silent vigil at the glass, staring at nothing and everything.

A figure emerged from between two buildings, dark hair tumbling in the wind, the curves of a woman unmistakable even underneath her heavy black coat. She looked upwards, her eyes sweeping over the window Emma sat at.

"Regina?" Emma breathed, barely containing a groan. She was not in the mood to be ridiculed by the mayor for being in love with someone who was trying to kill her.

Suddenly, though, there was a blackness that crawled from the center of the street and sprawled outwards, racing towards Regina. The mayor held strong, stumbling back only once before throwing a large barrier up to counter the surge of opposing magic- but then it was gone, and there was only a dark figure standing before Regina, his stance nonchalant and deadly.

Killian.

From a distance, she could now see the intricacies of Killian's persuasion magic- his eyes seared red as his fingers twitched, Regina's eyes echoing the color. Emma could see the artificial anger filling her to the brim- just as Emma's had, her magic frothed red around her, burning into the darkness. Her eyes faded from their intense shade, but a curious sheen held over them as she squared her shoulders. Killian cocked his head and spat in the Queen's direction, who started forward to him, chest swelling. Emma froze, incapable of moving for fear- fear for both of them- as Killian again produced Pan's sail from his coat and held against Regina's coming spell. In a blind panic, without even thinking, Emma clenched her hands together and screwed her eyes shut , a light burning through her body.

When she opened her eyes, she stood between Killian and Regina, who was screaming profanities and had already shaped a ball of white-hot fire in her hands. The air whipped around them, howling almost as loudly as Regina, and Killian let out an outraged roar, beginning to rush towards the two women.

Pulling her magic inward, she swathed herself and Regina in magic as she might a blanket- it settled over them like a heavier sort of air, arching above and below them and glowing an icy color as Killian ran headfirst into it. He roared, and Emma was unpleasantly reminded of what he had done to Granny's last time he'd been displeased. Her barrier wavered in that short second of fear, and then again as Killian rained down the whole of his power against it. Beneath them, the ground buzzed at the display of raw power.

"EMMA!" Regina screamed, running to beat against the barrier with her fists exactly where Killian stood at the other side. There was a blurred flash of red from Killian's side, and Regina's screams tumbled into a new pitch, the tips of her hair literally blazing with fire. "LET-ME- _OUT_!"

"Regina!" Emma yelled over the ruckus both Regina and Killian's magic were causing. She could feel her magic shrinking against the weight of Killian's- they didn't have much time- and she snaked an arm out to yank Regina away from the cracking barrier. Her skin burned into Emma's, leaving blistering pink patches on her skin, but Emma grit her teeth and held on.

"Regina!" she said again, shaking her as the heat began to become unbearable. "Stop this! It isn't real! Think of Henry, think of something you love, and _hold on to it_. If you attack him, you'll end up _powerless_."

As the air cracked around them, the protective magic slipping away fiber by fiber, Emma closed her eyes and latched onto Regina through the pain, pushing the feeble remains of her magic around her specifically, more thorough than her first had been, cutting her off from Killian's hold. Achingly slow, Regina's eyes faded from a molten glow to their natural brown, her breath hitching and temperature rapidly cooling.

Regina's barrier fell just as Emma's larger one did, and the mayor crumpled to the ground, heaving huge breaths as she pressed her steaming skin into the cool ground, whimpering.

An unseen force ripped Emma from the ground, spinning her through the air and whipping her against the hard edge of a brick wall. She crumpled faster than Regina had, her world tumbling, and failed to push up on her trembling knees. Warmth trickled from the crown of Emma's head and into her eyelashes, dying them red and sticky. She struggled to lift them as Killian stalked over to her.

"Damn you!" he yelled, his voice cutting through her eardrums. She had just managed to blink her eyes open through the blood when he sliced his hand to the side, and again Emma was ripped into the air, her knees and elbows skidding raw against the ground as she landed. Every single part of her throbbed with her heartbeat.

"You don't even know what you're meddling with, _Swan_. He needs to pay!" he said, turning to walk away.

Emma let out a faint cough and rolled onto her hands as Killian advanced on Regina. "Your father?" she said, the sound frail and broken. "He needs to pay?"

Killian froze midstride, his back tightening into a perfect line. Emma thought she heard a small noise of surprise escape as he stood there, but it was whisked away with the wind, still whipping between them. He turned on his outstretched heel and faced her, eyes wide and teeth clenched. "What did you say?"

"I asked why your father needs to pay." Emma had, by now pushed herself to her knees and swiped at the blood trickling down her forehead. She could see every labored breath Killian took, every tremble of his teeth, and it gave her a strange sense of security. He could be taken by surprise- his pride had allowed him to think that no one could ever guess why he was here. She took note of the fatal flaw as she stood, however shaky.

"How do you-" Killian began, but thought better of it, taking another step forward.

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" Emma realized as his jaw ticked impossibly fast, his surprise fading. " _Why_ , Killian. Why now?"

"I didn't know before," he said, his voice thinner than she'd ever heard it since he'd changed. "I never knew he was more than a coward- but then _they_ told me." His eyes had clouded over, listening to nothing as he bit his tongue. "They told me everything."

Emma dipped her voice as soft as she could go. "Who told you, Killian?"

He chose this moment to snap his head upwards and lock eyes with her, his pulse throbbing painfully in his neck. "The voices," he said, sounding like a small child as he let out a slight giggle.

"You're insane," Emma said before she could stop herself, Killian's eyes clearing as he stared directly at her. She closed her eyes and cursed, but it was too late; the bout of calm was broken. Killian flared back into his anger with ease, his chest rising with hatred and his eyes burning into her.

"I'm crazy?" said Killian as he twisted his hand. " _I'm_ crazy for wanting to kill my father? He _abandoned_ me, not even because he couldn't provide. He was a GOD!"

"Stop," Emma said as she saw his magic funneling down to surround him. "Stop!"

"I will kill him!" he said, each word punctuated with a blow of vicious magic that she barely blocked with a painful thrash of her own. "I will avenge myself, and my mother, and _Liam_!"

"This has _nothing_ to do with revenge!" Emma screamed at the top of her lungs, shaking from his last bout of power. He paused with his hand in the air, his pulse still skyrocketing. "You want more power and that's _it_. Go try and find someone else to convince!"

She braced herself for another slam against a brick wall as his stance turned deadly again, but his hand simply trembled as he lowered it. He stalked forward to her, nose to nose, and whisked his thumb over the wound in her head.

"Don't forget, Swan," he said, lowering his eyes to meet hers. "You're mine. The only reason you're still alive is because I _choose_ it. It would do well for you to remember your place."

His words and tone were threatening, but at such close proximity, the gold in his eyes faded, and Emma swallowed against emotion. Too long he stood there; too long to be proving a point, too long to be trying to scare her. He did not seem in control of himself in the moment, his expression softening and hardening at random intervals as his gaze flicked all over her face.

"Killian?" Emma tried, her voice low. His eyes turned to her lips, and her breath hitched with a strange mixture of lust, hope, and fear.

Roughly, Killian shoved her away, clenching his hand against his head and pulling his eyebrows together. "I'd suggest you stay out of my way, _Swan_ ," he spat, but even that seemed half-hearted, confused. He spun, walking into a small alleyway, and disappeared with a flash of magic darker than the night around them.

###

 **Hope you loved it! Only three more chapters to go!**

 **Please review- it makes my day.**


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